Thanks for that. Heh, I've just remembered that Fox and Sky share the same owner - insider source, indeed... Mind you, the last tidbit was a bit weird

Does the ALIEN Appear In PROMETHEUS?

Published on: Feb 24, 2011 2:15:24 PM CST

SPOILER ALERT !!

Nordling here.

At this point it's unclear what to think about Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS. Is it a prequel to ALIEN, is it set in the ALIEN universe, what exactly is the story... no one is quite sure. I've pretty much decided that it's a prequel to ALIEN, but I think Scott is approaching it in a way that we shouldn't have any preconceived notions about the film because it's a prequel. I think Scott and the writers want it to be far enough removed so that we can look for signifiers to the original films but the film itself isn't beholden to the events in those films.

Brendon Connelly of Bleeding Cool, according to this article, did seem to land a key bit of information, from an unnamed source on the project - the xenomorph will appear in some form, although it may not look anything like the Aliens of the original series. To quote the article:

"Remember how the alien took on canine qualities after gestating in a dog? You may even suppose that the first film’s alien was so recognisably humanoid because it had grown in a human. The same applies here: generation by generation, the creature mutates. As Prometheus begins, the xenomorph is not too recognisable. Sure, it has that alien DNA that Scott and Fassbender teasingly referred to, but it’s missing… well, it’s missing human DNA. Or dog DNA."

The article also talks about how terraforming plays a part in the storyline. Click above to read it.

It doesn't bother me anymore that PROMETHEUS is a prequel to ALIEN. I think Ridley Scott is going somewhere unique this time, and if anyone's going to make an ALIEN movie, even by another name and another theme, it's Ridley Scott and company. He's earned our trust. I'm seriously thinking of not following any more coverage of this film, simply because I want to be surprised by what Scott dishes out.

PROMETHEUS opens June 8, 2012.

Nordling, out.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48629

In the original screen play for Alien III, the host was an ox. The novelisation was based on that, so the film (as seen in the cinema) and the book were very different in places. The dog bits were shot in the US after Fincher had finished in the UK. I would say, that having watched both films, the original Fincher cut was by far the better of the two.

Alien III had a very difficult time in production. One rumour doing the rounds at the time was alines being able to hybridise with anything - including inanimate objects. Very odd - and if that was an idea that was being considered, I’m glad they skipped it.

The other curio for Aliens, which is now not in canon, was the first comic book story, which had Newt and Hicks travelling to the Alien’s home world - a place where the creature’s growth was kept in check by a pretty savage ecosystem. The space jockey race turned up in that too - it appeared that they had designs on Earth and were using the aliens to that end. Other comic book stories trod on the familiar ground of military R&D, androids and religion.

A creature in one of the novels was very Jockey-like in description and was a telepath

It's something they'll need to think through - see Predators for how to lessen creature impact

I bet this is all “on the table” stuff which gets bounced around the creative meetings, put on mood boards and test scripts sketched out to see how it will work. How much of it will appear on the screen will vary depending on how much of a prat Ridley doesn’t want to feel.

I think the AVP films showed very clearly how NOT to do it.

An old article, but interesting none the less:

Sci-fi films are as dead as Westerns, says Ridley Scott

August 30, 2007

He was the director of two of the most critically acclaimed science fiction films, but now Sir Ridley Scott believes that the genre is so tired and unoriginal that it may be dead.

At the Venice Film Festival for a special screening of his seminal noir thriller Blade Runner, Sir Ridley said that science fiction films were going the way the Western once had. “There’s nothing original. We’ve seen it all before. Been there. Done it,” he said. Asked to pick out examples, he said: “All of them. Yes, all of them.”

The flashy effects of recent block-busters, such as The Matrix, Independence Day and The War of the Worlds, may sell tickets, but Sir Ridley believes that none can beat Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Made at the height of the “space race” between the United States and the USSR, 2001 predicted a world of malevolent computers, routine space travel and extraterrestrial life. Kubrick had such a fastidious eye for detail, he employed Nasa experts in designing the spacecraft.

Sir Ridley said that 2001 was “the best of the best”, in use of lighting, special effects and atmosphere, adding that every sci-fi film since had imitated or referred to it. “There is an overreliance on special effects as well as weak storylines,” he said of modern sci-fi films.

Sir Ridley is one of Britain’s most acclaimed film-makers. His extraordinary number of box-office hits include Alien – another sci-fi classic, best remembered for the scene of an infant creature bursting through John Hurt’s chest – as well as Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. But it is for Blade Runner that sci-fi fans revere him most, regularly voting it one of the best examples of the genre.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its original release, Sir Ridley has produced a new cut of the film, which has its world premiere at the festival.

Apart from its stunning camera work and state-of-the art special effects, Blade Runner was ahead of its time in its treatment of issues such as globalisation, urban decay, global warming, overpopulation and genetic engineering.

The film, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, is a stylish, brooding film noir starring Harrison Ford as a special detective – a “blade runner” – assigned to hunt down a band of killer androids, and Rutger Hauer as the replicant leader. Film fans applaud its exploration of existential questions – What does it mean to be human? Can robots and computers have souls? Sir Ridley was pressurised into altering his original vision for the film after it tested badly with preview audiences. At the behest of the studio he introduced a voiceover narration to explain the story to audiences and tacked on a happy ending.

“There were too many cooks in the kitchen,” he recalled yesterday, suggesting that there continued to be too much reliance on such test screenings.

“We went into preview hell on that,” he said. “Everyone has an opinion. At the end of the day, if you want to be an artist, you have to trust your instincts.” Test screenings should be used more discerningly – “purely as an advisory tool”, he said.

Blade Runnerhas now been restored and remastered with the inclusion of new and extended scenes and improved special effects on a special five-disc DVD set that Warner Brothers will release this autumn.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/ ... 351086.ece

Your next 'Alien' had better be good then

Personally, I can't recall ever seeing anything like The Matrix before (or since, really)

Which is why it's a shame they let Keanu ruin it.

I thought Keanu was OK, as for most of the trilogy he was meant to be bumbling along not really knowing what was going on, which suits him down to the ground.

As for Ridley Scott saying sci-fi is 'dead as Westerns', I think that just shows the poor quality of scripts he's being shown. He's tried the Robin Hood genre and made a mess of that, Gangster films which few people went to see, ancient history things like Kingdom of heaven, Gladiator and so on.....he's got no idea of which genres are alive or dead and (as shown earlier) he hasn't really made a must see film since 2000. His reputation tends largely to rest on two films made over 30 years ago.

Soooo.... what Ridley is saying is that the best Sci Film was 2001 because of the influence of the space race. He could be right - art is a mirror to the world, and if there is nothing to reflect, you get nothing.

We clearly need to be doing something other than bombing Arabs. Maybe then cinema will pick up.

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/idris-elb ... prometheus

As the article says, I’m glad he’s looking for acting talent, and not big names.

Filming Locations For Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS??

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48722

Idris Elba discusses Ridley Scott's upcoming Alien prequel Prometheus.

Mark

I've got that somewhere, mint condition and wrapped up in a nice poly bag. Doubt it's worth anything though. I haven't seen it in 20 years but it's probably in a box of junk at my parents house getting chewed on by some pest